U.S. has clear path to selling GM stake: official

The Treasury has a clear path to selling its remaining stake in General Motors Co shares, a senior Obama administration official is expected to say on Wednesday.

Former auto czar Ron Bloom will testify that the government has plans to exit its investment in GM as soon as practicable, according to prepared remarks posted on the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform website.

Bloom, now the White House manufacturing adviser, will testify during a committee hearing called Lasting Implications of the General Motors Bailout. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is a government committee that has broad oversight on government policies.

GM went public last year, allowing the U.S. government to nearly halve its 61-percent stake in the automaker. The government currently holds 32 percent of GM's common equity.

The government remains a reluctant shareholder and intends to dispose of its investment as soon as practicable, with the dual goals of achieving financial stability and maximizing returns to taxpayers, Bloom will say in his remarks.

Sources previously told Reuters that the U.S. Treasury did not plan to sell its remaining shares in GM until August, after the automaker's second-quarter earnings report.

GM shares have fallen below their $33 IPO price, due in part to concerns about government involvement. GM stock was 53 cents or 1.8 percent higher at $30.12 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.